Record Rains Kill 5-Year-Old Girl in Nicaragua

Two children use buckets to bail out muddy water from their flooded home after of the Ochomogo river burst its banks, in Rivas, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

NICARAGUA NEWS — Record rains unleashed landslides and caused flooding that swamped hundreds of homes and swept a 5-year-old girl to her death, Nicaraguan officials said Thursday.

The country’s Institute of Territorial Studies said 14.9 inches (378 millimeters) of rain fell in just 24 hours, the most ever recorded. The record rains unleashed landslides and flooding that swamped hundreds of homes.

Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said the girl was swept away by strong currents in the village of Santa Teresa, which is on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua.

There were five landslides at the Concepcion volcano on Ometepe, and authorities closed roads in the popular tourist area. Murillo said 890 homes were flooded and 24 destroyed.